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HOCKEY ADDICT’S GUIDE: NEW YORK CITY

Where to Eat, Drink & Play the Only Game That Matters

If the genre of hockey tourism has not received much attention, it’s because Evan Gubernick has just invented it with this guide, the first in a new series: HOCKEY ADDICT’S GUIDE: NEW YORK CITY [The Countryman Press; on sale March 13, 2018; $14.95; Paperback].

Packed with everything you need to immerse yourself in New York City’s unique hockey culture, HOCKEY ADDICT’S GUIDE is a must-read for local fans, beer-league devotees, youth hockey-obsessed families, and visitors alike. Find out:

Where to show up for the best pickup games, and where to grab a beer after the game

How to get your skates sharpened at the tiny fifth-floor shop only the locals know

How to find outdoor rinks that aren’t crowded with tourists holding hands

Where to cheer on the Rangers, the Devils, and the Islanders (and even the women’s team that plays out in New Jersey, the Metropolitan Riveters!)

Where hockey fans hang out off the ice, from sneaker boutiques to bike shops to beer gardens

Where to root for non-New York teams among fellow transplanted fans — including the one place in New York City where it’s acceptable to cheer for Boston

Organized around major hockey hubs like Madison Square Garden, the Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers, and the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn, this guide offers deeply opinionated recommendations on where to eat, drink, sleep, and shop like a New York City hockey fan.

Stay at the urban dude ranch run by a retired hockey pro, buy hard-to-find jerseys from the best vintage shop in town, and grab a King Henrik coctail at the Tribeca bar co-owned by Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Eat at the Italian restaurant recommended by the Zamboni driver from Madison Square Garden, or the Chinatown noodle shop where the NYU hockey team refuels late at night.

This is a take-along guidebook that will be pored over, referenced, and most importantly, fiercely debated in locker rooms across the city.

EVAN GUBERNICK is the founder of Snipetown NYC, a magazine devoted to the hockey subculture of New York City, and creative director of 485 Creative. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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I know, I know. It’s a dirty word for long time NHL fans, but as much as we would like to pretend it didn’t happen, FoxTrax was a thing. Not only was it a thing – a poorly executed thing – it was very innovative in the world of sports. Granted, hockey itself has pretty much stuck to a score and time overlay that’s expandable to include a power play timer, but things you see in other sports are direct decedents of FOX’s glowing abomination on ice. Now, over 20 years later, there is talk about similar technology returning to the National Hockey League.

Sports broadcasting innovation

The year is 1996. FOX had the broadcasting rights to the NHL in the United States, and aimed to come up with a solution for a common complaint about hockey back in the days of fuzzy old standard definition televisions. The complaint? Casual viewers couldn’t keep track of the puck. I mean, I’m sure anyone can miss a black dot on a white sheet of ice, right? I digress. People apparently couldn’t follow the action, and FOX, along with a company called Etak, set out to solve that problem.

Splitting a puck directly in half (as one would slice a bagel), an array of infrared emitters, a shock sensor, and a circuit board and battery were placed inside, the two halves of the puck then glued back together with an epoxy. Carefully considered were the weight and balance of the puck, as NHL Chief Engineer Rick Cavallaro stated that the players could tell if it was even off by a slight amount. Specialized cameras picked up the infrared emissions from the puck. FOX’s “Puck Truck” overlaid appropriate (for lack of a better term) on-screen graphics based on data from the cameras. The result was a blue hue around the puck at all times, along with a blue tail to track passes, and a red comet tail on shots 70MPH or higher.

It was a technological breakthrough, and a monumental moment in the eventual history of televised sports. Hockey fans hated it.

Reactions to the innovation

Sure, casual fans were better able to follow the action. In fact, 7 out of 10 FOX viewers surveyed said they liked the addition of the glowing puck. Hell, 14 year old me thought it was “cool.” 35 year old me, not so much. Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski wasn’t a big fan either. “Imagine if you were watching the Super Bowl and every time the running back disappeared in a pile of tacklers he started glowing like a blueberry from Chernobyl.”

“The inference being that (Americans are) too hockey-stupid to follow the play or that we need to be distracted by shiny new toys in order to watch the sport.”

The future of NHL Broadcasts

FoxTrax died a quiet death at the end of the 1997-98 season as ABC took over NHL broadcasts in the United States. Oddly enough, it’s an article from ABC-owned ESPN that inspired this post. The article notes that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said, “While it was the subject of much discussion, and some derision, in 1996, the technology of Fox Sports’ glowing puck was the precursor of the first-down line that has become standard practice for any football broadcast, and any number of innovations. Actually, we are working on a dramatically updated version of that technology, and we have plans to roll out updated player and puck tracking. We are literally going back to the future.”

Before reading the article, I’d responded to the link shared on Facebook with essentially the same sentiments as Gary Bettman. I know, I feel dirty. I referenced the on-field overlays used in football, and the strike zone overlay used in FOX’s coverage of Major League Baseball as technology that was not only created, but actually done well in the wake of FoxTrax. The most interesting takeaway from Bettman’s quote, however, is that they “have plans to roll out updated player and puck tracking.”

Say what?

Bettman likely isn’t referring to bringing back FoxTrax in it’s original form, with modified puck and red-glowing shot trails. I feel it’s more akin to things we’ve already seen from the league. Showing player statistics such as ice time, skating speed, shot speed, and things of that nature. Personally, I found it helpful (though not absolutely necessary) when the FoxTrax puck would glow along the near boards, rendering it visible for fans at home who don’t have x-ray vision to see through wooden boards on their television.

Overall, I don’t hate the idea of implementing new old technical innovations into an NHL broadcast. However, taking a minimally invasive approach may be the key to doing it correctly.

On the eve of their first meeting of the 2017/2018 regular season, the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs are both in trouble. Period. That the trouble doesn’t make itself smack-you-in-the-lips apparent, does not mean that the trouble isn’t there.

Let’s start with Montreal, where the problem IS smack-you-in-the-lips apparent: the Habs can’t score. They’ve generated four goals (aside from a Jonathan Drouin shootout winner) in four games — good for last in the NHL. For a short time, they shared that mark with San Jose; perhaps the worst thing about that being that San Jose had only played two games at the time. They would have needed to be shut out in back-to-back games for those numbers to remain the way they were.

Carey Price — in seasons past, playing well enough to mostly mask the Canadiens’ offensive struggles — has played more than a few steps behind by the numbers. In facing around 27 shots per game, Price has allowed 11 goals, sporting a 3.30 GAA and a save percentage of sub-.900. A markedly slow start for an all-world goaltender with a career GAA nearly a full point below where it currently sits.

What is painfully clear to Habs fans is this: when Price doesn’t play perfect hockey, the offense has not only not been able to bail them out. The offensive output thusfar has DEMANDED that Price play perfect hockey, which he has not done. As a result, Montreal is off to a 1-3 start and sit near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

On the other side, there are the young, run-and-gun Toronto Maple Leafs: 3-1, out to the early Atlantic division lead, and scoring at an incredible pace.

How can this team also be in trouble?

“Run-and-gun” was not a randomly-chosen phrase; the Leafs are nearly atop the league in goal-scoring, having netted 22 in four games (four more than the nearest Eastern Conference opponent). They are also tied for fourth place in terms of most goals allowed. It adds up to an AVERAGE of four goals allowed per game; indeed, the Leafs have played only one game where they have allowed fewer than three. On an offense that has already generated games of 8- and 7-goals, this may seem like less of a problem than Montreal’s inability to score. But what happens when the goals *aren’t* there?

When they aren’t there, the New Jersey game happens: a 6-3 loss to a team that they should beat, where they allowed twice as many goals as they scored, despite nearly doubling their opponent in shots.

Since the lockout-shortened 2012/13 season, teams that lead the league in goal scoring have averaged 3.29 goals per game. The 16/17 Penguins were the outlier, having averaged 3.43 last season. Toronto is currently averaging a ridiculous 5.5 goals per game — a pace that we know from empirical evidence is not sustainable. Not since the 2009/10 Capitals has a team even topped 3.5 over an entire season, and even that team did not come close to even a full 4.

If we are overly-friendly to this year’s Leafs, and meet in the middle between their current pace of 5.5 and the 2009/10 Capitals pace of 3.87, the Leafs would average 4.69 goals per game. If we reduce that number to the scoring leader’s average since the Lockout, it still sits at 4.4. Those paces would meet or exceed the highest in modern history — again, paces which we know are not sustainable in the modern NHL. While that may put a smile on the faces of Leafs Nation, don’t forget: Toronto is ALLOWING four per game. Therein lies the problem: the Leafs can’t keep the puck out of their own net; a persistent problem dating back well beyond this season.

Freddie Andersen has been, in a word, awful this season. Facing 31 shots a game (therefore getting little help from the team in front of him), Andersen has allowed all 16 of Toronto’s goals against, sitting with a GAA just under 4 and a save percentage barely north of .870. While the offensive players have enjoyed a banner year to this point, the defense has at times looked completely lost and hung their goaltender out to dry. By the same token, at times, the defense has mostly done their job, and Andersen has simply not been able to come up with saves. The Leafs are allowing far too many shots on their goaltender, and their goaltender is allowing far too many to light the lamp behind him.

So, the question is begged: which problem would you rather have?
Would you rather struggle to score goals, or score plenty and struggle to keep other teams from scoring as well?
More to the point: would you rather be Montreal or Toronto, RIGHT NOW?

My answer came in digging a little deeper.

As we have mentioned, Andersen (who has played every second of the Leafs season so far) has faced just over 31 shots per game, where Price has faced 27 (and if you add in the short amount of work for Montoya, the team allows 29 shots per game total so far). That’s not a big difference — but any good armchair GM would take the lesser of those two numbers.

Three of Toronto’s four games have seen them allow 30 shots — two of those, allowing at least 35. After allowing a ridiculous 45 shots in their opening game, Montreal has yet to allow another opponent to get to 26.

It may seem foolish to compare the two teams on any level offensively, but would it surprise you to learn that Toronto is only outshooting Montreal by less than three shots per game? While the Leafs average 41.5 shots per game, Montreal is within striking distance at 38.8. In this light, Montreal’s problem is less about generating offense, and more about finishing their opportunities. Montreal is shooting at a ridiculously-low 2.58% — lower than any roster player to score a goal for them last season aside from one (Alexei Emelin). Bringing their shooting percentage up to last season’s 9%, a pace of 38.8 shots/game results in 3.5 goals/game. Even halving that percentage would be an upgrade that could be worked with.

There are a few points to be made here. Neither team is as good or as bad as they seem, as we’ve traversed less than 5% of the regular season. The Leafs are not going to finish with 60 wins any more than the Habs will finish with 60 losses. And both teams have significant reason to be concerned, no matter what the early standings say.

As far as which problem I would rather have and which team I would rather be? I can say a few things for sure. Having a +6 goal differential after four games would be nice to have — except if it took me 22 goals to get there. I’d rather have to focus on finishing my own chances, than to worry about whether my goaltender is going to make the next save. I’d rather give up the fewest shots against that I possibly can, and I’d rather have nowhere but up to go, than nowhere but down.

Today is October 2, 2017, and 30 years ago today, Pittsburgh Penguins star and two time Stanley Cup winner Phil Kessel was born. Therefore, today I decided to share with my fellow hockey fans some knowledge bestowed upon me by some folks in a chat room during a recent pre-season game between the Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres. I do have to apologize, however, as I didn’t think to keep the names of the folks who said these things as I was sharing them with my BoredHockeyFan.com co-admin G the other night.

“Kessel was baptized in hot dog water”

“When Kessel gets NHL 18 he makes Kessel a little bigger to see if he can eat a few more burgers and still play”

“Kessel ain’t even fat, he’s jacked.”

“Kessels not fat, he’s thicc”

“Kessel won’t go to a team meeting unless they got pigs in a blanket.”

“Kessel stays in (Pittsburgh) not because he likes winning, but because they have the highest taco bell/pizza hut combos per capita”

“When the snapchat filter came out with the dancing hot dog Kessel ate his phone”

“If Kessel had a time machine, he’d go back to 1943, not to kill hitler but to kill a Dodo bird and try it’s meat.”

“Never refer to the puck as a biscuit or Phil will eat it”

“Kessel drank Smart Water for a week and couldn’t understand why he wasn’t better at math.”

“Kessel spends 14K on Reeses Pieces a month”

“Kessel met Jesus once but kept hounding him about Fish”

“Kessel’s salary is measured in quarter pounders”

And there you have it, folks. Things I learned about birthday boy Phil Kessel from random people in a chat room. Happy birthday Phil, from all of us at BoredHockeyFan!

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In 1967, the NHL expanded from 6 teams to 12, adding franchises in California, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

In 1979, the National Hockey League merged with the World Hockey Association, with WHA franchises Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Minnesota North Stars joining the NHL for the 79-80 season.

On June 22, 2016, Commissioner Gary Bettman announced, that starting from the 2017-18 season, there would be 31 teams in the National Hockey League, with the addition of a franchise in Las Vegas. This will be the first expansion draft in the NHL since the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets entered the league in the 2000-01 season.

The expansion draft will occur in 2017, whère Vegas will select 30 players, one from each existing franchise, including at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies. The existimg teams have the option to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie, or eight skaters and one goalie.

Any current player with a no-move clause in their contract, at the end of the 2017 season, must be included in their franchises list of protected players.

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Draft picks get traded every single NHL season. In the 2015 draft alone, 78 of the 211 picks moved from their original team. Draft picks are usually traded, in order to spice up a deal to obtain players, to move their position in the draft or to have more picks in the draft, allowing them to have more draft picks.

However, there are some draft picks that get traded more, than the player that was drafted with the pick, with some of those draft picks being in some of the biggest and well-known trades in hockey.

One such pick, is Pick 32 of the 2010 Entry Draft.

The Toronto Maple Leafs originally held the #32 pick, the second pick of the second round, by finishing 29th in the 09-10 season, only better than the Edmonton Oilers. However, on the 3rd of July 2008, Toronto traded the pick, along with defensemen Greg Pateryn, to the Montreal Canadiens, for forward Mikhail Grabovski.

Pick 32’s travels didn’t end there. Montreal moved the pick on September 12, 2008, to the Chicago Blackhawks, in exchange for forward Robert Lang.

Chicago, on the 5th September, 2009, moved pick 32, back to the franchise that originally held the pick, Toronto. In return, the Blackhawks received picks 43 and 69 in the 2010 draft, which were used to draft Brandon Saad (43), and
Michael Paliotta (69).

With the Maple Leafs regaining the pick, it would be moved one more time before reaching its final destination. On the 18th of September, 2009, Toronto sent the pick, as well as their first round pick in 2010, and their first round pick in 2011, to the Boston Bruins, in exchange for Phil Kessel. Boston would use the picks to draft Tyler Seguin (Pick 2, 2010), Dougie Hamilton (Pick 9, 2011) and with pick 32 of the NHL draft, Jared Knight.

Knight would spend time in Boston, before being traded to the Minnesota Wild, on March 2, 2015, in exchange for Zack Phillips, where he remains on the roster. Thus ends this draft pick road. Four franchises and seven players were all affected in some way shape or form, by pick 32, with another player and franchise affected after Jared Knight was drafted. As for the franchises and players affected?

Greg Pateryn remains in Montreal, under contract until 2018. Mikhail Grabovski was bought out by the Leafs, spent one season in Washington, before signing for the New York Islanders, where he currently plays.
Robert Lang would spend the remainder of the 08-09 season in Montreal, before signing as a Free Agent for his final season, the 09-10 season, in Arizona.

Brandon Saad and Michael Paliotta, would both remain members of the Chicago Blackhawks, before both were traded in the same deal, along with Alex Broadhurst, to the Columbus Blue Jackets, in exchange for Artem Anisimov, Jeremy Morin, Corey Trapp, Marko Dano and a 2016 4th Rd pick.

Tyler Seguin would win a Stanley Cup in Boston, before being traded with Rich Peverley and Ryan Button, to the Dallas Stars. In return, the Bruins received Loui Eriksson, Matt Fraser, Reilly Smith and Joe Morrow.
Dougie Hamilton would also be traded out of Boston. Moved to the Calgary Flames organization, in exchange for a 2015 1st Rd pick (Zach Senshyn, 15), and two 2nd Rd picks (Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, 45), (Jeremy Lauzon, 52).

Phil Kessel would lead scoring for the Maple Leafs in every season he was a member of the roster, before the Pittsburgh Penguins came calling. Kessel, Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon, and a 2nd Rd pick in 2016 (61), would head to Pittsburgh, with Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington, Nick Spaling, a 2016 1st Rd pick (30), and a 2016 3rd Rd pick (72).

Zack Phillips would be traded to the St. Louis Blues on March 4, 2016 for future considerations, and on July 1, after his NHL contract expired, Phillips agreed to a one-year deal with Swedish Allsvenskan franchise, Tingsryds AIF.